Dec 15 Obamacare declared unconstitutional

Obamacare is fatally flawed and should be considered null and void, a federal judge said Friday in a bombshell ruling that sides with state Republicans who argue the GOP-led Congress’ decision to gut the “individual mandate” penalty for going uninsured makes the rest of the program invalid.

The court “finds the individual mandate, unmoored from a tax, is unconstitutional,” U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor, an appointee of President George W. Bush presiding in Texas, wrote in his opinion.

The decision is a huge swipe at the 2010 law and sets the stage for a bigger fight in appeals courts. It will also reverberate on Capitol Hill, where Democrats are set to retake the House majority after running on a pro-Obamacare platform and criticizing GOP candidates who failed to devise a fallback plan if the lawsuit is tossed in the end.